the girl and her dad

Lately, when we are in the car and a Beatles song comes on, the girl says 'Beatles song!'. Yup, thats right, folks, she can recognize the Beatles. This seems to extend to songs that she hasn't heard before. I couldn't be prouder. (I wonder what would happen if we played her the Apples in Stereo - we should try it.)

The reason for this new found knowledge is that she adores playing 'Beatles Rock Band' with her dad. They will sit side-by-side, dad playing either the guitar or drums and singing, and the girl singing. (She also has her own guitar, but i don't see her playing it much. She wants to have it with her, i guess just in case inspiration strikes.) The girl will request 'nother song' for a long time during this game, with her most frequent requests being 'Octopus's Garden', and 'I am the Walrus'. She doesn't sing very much in the way of actual lyrics, preferring to chime in with the occasional bout of 'Happy Birthday', or 'Motorboat', but she does seem to be learning some of the easier phrases ('Bang bang', or 'coo coo choo').

Aside from this cuteness the girl is turning into a Daddy's Girl in another way - her current fascination with games. Dad has bought her a few real games, and she adores playing with them. I think she'd play them all night long if we were willing to play with her. You can see her collection and reviews here:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/user/mbuergel

I love that she plays games with us. Its something that drew me to her dad to begin with - that he spent his time doing something, something that required thought and action and social intercourse. I'm glad that the girl gets to do those things, and that she gets so much pleasure out of them. Right now the games involve a lot of matching, and it is really cool to see her skills develop. She is getting better at taking turns, and matching pictures and shapes. (She is also learning to pick up her games, put them away, ask to play, etc. - all skills I appreciate.) I think we both enjoy spending some time with her, playing a game or ten.

What with all this time spent with dad, the girl is getting closer to him. (hey, she even said 'go away mommy' the other night after a few bouts with her 'go away monster' game.) While i never want to lose my adorable little girl, i love seeing her developing relationship with her dad. It will serve them both well in the years to come to have a positive foundation from which to build.

Rachel says, on Facebook:

Madeleine just did something pretty clever- she made up a stack of duplos, with a base and a larger block at the top, held it up, and said, "Space Needle."

This probably is completely age appropriate, but somehow i'm impressed. It also does a good job, somehow, of summing up where the girl is right now. She loves the space needle, and is starting to get to know her larger home of Seattle. She can talk - often in quite grammatically correct sentences. She can build, with Legos! It is hard to believe what a person she has become - what a vibrant, and cheerful, and loving, and interested person she has become. But, with many hugs to her - she'll exceed all of our expectations.

cleaninggirl

cleaninggirl, originally uploaded by meganursula.

You know, if you want to see even more photos you can click through to flickr. The girl loves cleaning, and helping. She got this toddler sized cleaning set for her birthday, from her Aunt, and she adores it!

rainbowgirl

rainbowgirl, originally uploaded by meganursula.

The girl, at the top of the space needle, wearing a new sweater from her aunt. She is almost two here.

peaceneedles

peaceneedles, originally uploaded by meganursula.

The girl and her friend are huge fans of the Space Needle. One Friday we took them to the Space Needle, went all the way to the top, and even got them shirts. They adored it. Not our cheapest Friday, as it turns out, but really worth it to see two such happy kids.

postbaking

postbaking, originally uploaded by meganursula.

Madeleine helped me bake cookies. She was good at measuring, stirring, and tasting...

ultra18wks

ultra18wks, originally uploaded by meganursula.

Girl and Dog will soon be Girl and Dog and...well, we don't know. Operation Ultra is well underway, with a due date of 8 December. The girl knows that she will get a new baby this winter (although, clearly not what that means). She says 'baby growing in mommy's belly-button'. Ultra looks healthy so far, cross your fingers!